Statement fool made about Orient (9)
I believe the answer is:
assertion
'statement' is the definition.
(I know that statement can be written as assertion)
'made about orient' is the wordplay.
'made' becomes 'ass' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'about' indicates anagramming the letters.
'orient' is an anagram of 'ertion'.
'ass'+'ertion'='ASSERTION'
'fool' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for assertion that I've seen before include "Claim" , "Notarises (anag)" , "Confident statement of fact" , "Confident declaration" , "Emphatic declaration" .)